Horrors.

"Some [stuff] y'all blew up," the Pistons' big man said before Detroit defeated the Sixers, 105-88, last night in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal. "When I say 'Y'all,' . . . not necessarily you as individuals here today, but . . .

"These are things I've been doing my whole career. If I do something friendly like that, it's a big deal. If I rave, rant and cuss and all that, oh, then that's normal. I'm not worried about it."

The 6-11 Wallace, from Simon Gratz High, indicated that his lack of interest in being a focal point of his team is an old story.

"I think you can get more done with five individuals than you can [with] one individual," he said. "If you've got one guy you know is going to get that ball in crunch time, it's easier to defend him. But if you have five guys who can get that ball in crunch time, it's harder."

Wallace put up 24 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks in Game 1, staying on the perimeter enough to launch six three-pointers, but also working in the post to create some havoc around the basket.

Asked whether, in his heart, he's really a shooting guard, he said, "No, I'm a big man. I'm a 'big' who just knows how to shoot.

"I just play an overall game," said Wallace, who had 16 points and seven boards last night.

"I've had a great teacher in Bill Ellerbee [at Gratz]; he taught me the ABCs of the game. I had a follow-up teacher in Dean Smith [at North Carolina]. You can't ask for two greater guys than that to learn the game of basketball from."

As for the Sixers' strategy of having center Samuel Dalembert defend him straight up, Wallace said, "It doesn't matter to me. Either way, I'm going to do one of two things: either score, or if I see that one of my teammates has a disposition on [his] defender, hit [him] with the ball. Just play basketball, try not to do anything fancy; basic basketball, ABC." *